1 

Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert 

Act

REPORT TO CONGRESS

May 2017

United States Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 
2 

Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act

REPORT TO CONGRESS

United States Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

I. Purpose

Pursuant to the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015, Pub. L. 

No. 114-12 (Blue Alert Act or Act), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ or 

Department) provides this annual report to Congress. 

II. Background

The Blue Alert Act was enacted to “establish a national Blue Alert communications 

network within the [U.S.] Department of Justice to issue Blue Alerts through the initiation, 

facilitation, and promotion of Blue Alert plans, in coordination with States, units of local 

government, law enforcement agencies, and other appropriate entities (42 U.S.C. § 14165(2)).” 

Named for two fallen New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers who were ambushed, 

the Act is intended to facilitate rapid dissemination of information to law enforcement 

agencies, the media, and the public that will aid in (1) apprehending violent criminals who have 

killed or seriously injured a law enforcement officer in the line of duty; (2) finding an officer 

when he or she is missing in connection with his or her official duties; or (3) sharing notice of an 

imminent and credible threat that an individual intends to cause the serious injury or death of a 

law enforcement officer. 

Officer safety and wellness remains a top priority for the Department, which is

committed to implementing the Blue Alert Act to protect the lives of the men and women who 

bravely serve in law enforcement. In a March 31, 2017 Memorandum, the Attorney General 

recognized the uniquely dangerous nature of police work and reiterated the Department’s 

strong support of federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement. The Department assigned 

the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) with the honor of overseeing

implementation of the Blue Alert Act and to create the National Blue Alert Network, based on 

its extensive work and collaborative research on officer safety and wellness. 

III. Coordinator Activities

The Blue Alert Act requires an annual report to Congress on the activities of the National 

Blue Alert Coordinator and the effectiveness and status of Blue Alert plans that are in effect or 
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being developed. The COPS Office dedicated significant time and effort to implement the Blue 

Alert Act and reports the following activities:

A. Designation of National Coordinator and Deputy National Coordinator. The Blue Alert 

Act requires the Attorney General to assign an existing officer of the Department to act as the 

national coordinator of the Blue Alert communications network to serve as the nationwide 

point of contact for the development of a network and regional coordination of Blue Alerts

through the network (42 U.S.C. § 14165b(a)). 

As previously reported in the 2016 Report to Congress, then Attorney General Loretta E. 

Lynch designated the Director of the COPS Office as the National Blue Alert Coordinator

(Coordinator). The Coordinator, in turn, designated an existing COPS Office staff member with 

significant law enforcement experience as the Deputy National Blue Alert Coordinator (Deputy 

Coordinator) to assist in implementing the Blue Alert Act. 

The Coordinator also established the COPS Office Blue Alert Team consisting of existing 

federal staff with a broad range of expertise.

1

 This team meets bi-weekly to discuss 

implementation strategies, timelines, and deliverables. Select members of the team have been 

trained to provide technical assistance to states and local law enforcement agencies seeking to 

establish Blue Alert plans or enhance an existing Blue Alert plan.

1 Members of the team include Shanetta Y. Cutlar, Andrew Dorr, Robert Chapman, Vince Davenport, Shannon 

Long, Sheryl Thomas, Chau Miles, Melissa Fieri-Fetrow, Tracie Johnson-Farrell, Girale Wilson-Takahashi, Lachundra 

Lindsey, Gerald Moore, and Matthew Lysakowski.

B. Establishment of Advisory Group and Quarterly Meetings. Pursuant to the Blue Alert 

Act, the Coordinator is required to establish an Advisory Group to assist states, local 

governments, and other involved entities with initiating, facilitating, and promoting Blue Alert 

plans (42 U.S.C. § 14165b(b)(5)). The Act requires the group to have geographically diverse 

representation and include the following representatives:

• A law enforcement organization representing rank-and-file officers

• Other law enforcement agencies and public safety communications

• Broadcasters, first responders, dispatchers, and radio station personnel 

• Other individuals and organizations the Coordinator determines are necessary for 

the success of the network

As previously reported, the Coordinator established an Advisory Group that satisfies 

each of the statutory requirements. Today, there are nine members representing the following 

organizations: 

 
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• Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)

• National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO)

• Blue Alert Foundation, Inc.

• International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)

• National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA)

• National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF)

• Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO)

• National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)

• First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet)

The COPS Office held its inaugural Advisory Group meeting in November 2016, during 

which it established a quarterly meeting schedule. The Advisory Group also met in February 

2017. The next meeting is scheduled for May 2017.

To date, Advisory Group members have provided valuable individual feedback to the 

COPS Office on our proposed guidance and recommendations to states and local governments 

in developing or enhancing their Blue Alert plans.

The COPS Office will add additional Advisory Group members or amend the frequency of 

meetings, as appropriate, consistent with the discretion granted to the Coordinator by the Blue 

Alert Act.

C. Development of Voluntary Guidelines and Protocols. The Blue Alert Act requires the 

Coordinator to establish voluntary guidelines for states and local governments to use in 

developing Blue Alert plans. The guidelines must include a list of resources necessary to 

establish Blue Alert plans; criteria and guidelines for issuing Blue Alerts; guidelines to protect 

privacy and civil liberties; and guidelines aligned with the National Crime Information Center 

(NCIC) database operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and any other relevant crime 

information repository (42 U.S.C. § 14165b(b)(2)). 

The voluntary guidelines address two complementary yet separate components of the 

Blue Alert Act: public alerts and law enforcement sensitive (LES) alerts. Public alerts directed at 

media outlets and affected communities provide suspect or missing officer information that is 

appropriate for public dissemination. LES alerts directed at affected law enforcement agencies

provide sensitive information that is accessible only to law enforcement personnel. Public and 

LES alerts are often sent concurrently. 

Unlike public Blue Alerts, LES Blue Alerts are limited to situations when an investigating 

agency needs to share information with other states or law enforcement agencies but is not 

prepared to make suspect information publicly known. LES alerts are used when the 
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investigating agency believes that making suspect information known publicly could jeopardize 

the criminal investigation or when the investigating agencies believes that public alerting is not 

prudent given the facts known at the time. LES alerts are also used when there is a known 

credible threat to law enforcement in a particular jurisdiction and the investigating agency 

wishes to alert other law enforcement personnel in the affected jurisdictions or geographical 

area without making the threat known publicly.

To meet its statutory mandate to establish voluntary guidelines, the COPS Office issued 

Alert Guidelines (https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/blue-alert/blue_alert_guidelines.pdf) to provide 

general information on when a law enforcement agency should issue Blue Alerts consistent 

with the statutory criteria as set forth in the Blue Alert Act. Blue Alerts may be issued when 

one of the following sets of threshold criteria are met: (1) death or serious injury of a law 

enforcement officer in the line of duty; (2) law enforcement officer missing in connection with 

official duties; or (3) threat to cause death or serious injury to a law enforcement officer. 

To supplement the Alert Guidelines, the COPS Office recently developed Effective Blue 

Alert Plans: Guidance and Recommendations to help states and local agencies through the 

development process of Blue Alert plans; enhance and standardize existing state and local Blue 

Alert plans; and promote nationwide compatibility of Blue Alert plans. This comprehensive 

guidance identifies and addresses eight key elements to consider in developing new or updating 

existing Blue Alert plans: (1) activation criteria for alerts; (2) requesting alerts; (3) writing 

effective alerts; (4) geographic scope of alerts; (5) interstate and intrastate coordination of 

alerts; (6) duration of alerts; (7) officer privacy protection; and (8) suspect apprehension efforts. 

The COPS Office will work with our partners at the Federal Communications Commission

(FCC) and Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to determine the most 

effective way to deliver LES alerts to targeted law enforcement personnel within the existing 

alerting infrastructure. We will also continue to work with law enforcement stakeholders and 

Advisory Group members to increase the effectiveness of our guidance.

D. Launch of Information Repositories and Delivery of Technical Assistance. As 

previously reported, in October 2016, the COPS Office launched a dedicated webpage on our 

DOJ website at https://cops.usdoj.gov/bluealert to promote Blue Alerts and provide 

educational materials. This National Blue Alert Network webpage serves as a centralized 

resource center that includes, among other things: 

• Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015

• Blue Alert map indicating those states and territories with Blue Alert plans

• Alert Guidelines

• National Blue Alert Network factsheet
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• Blue Alert Legislation Compendium

• State Blue Alert Officials Directory (public contact information)

• Information on who is eligible and how to access our secure controlled access 

information sharing platform 

In January 2017, the COPS Office launched a new secure web-based data repository

maintained on the Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP) 

that provides controlled access to states, local governments, law enforcement agencies, and 

other qualified stakeholders as determined by the Coordinator. Individuals with existing LEEP 

or LEO.gov accounts can access the National Blue Alert Network Special Interest Group (SIG) 

directly at https://leo.cjis.gov/leoContent/sigs/blue_alert/. The National Blue Alert SIG 

provides curated information that may not be appropriate for public dissemination that 

includes, among other things: 

• State Blue Alert Officials Directory (24-Hour emergency contact information) 

• National Blue Alert Network PowerPoint Presentation

• Effective Blue Alert Plans: Guidance and Recommendations

• Sample Blue Alert Policies

• Annual Reports to Congress 

The COPS Office will continue to enhance the National Blue Alert Network webpage and 

SIG with updated and new information on a regular basis. 

Notably, the Blue Alert Act prohibits the Coordinator from lobbying any state officer 

regarding the funding or implementation of a Blue Alert plan. Consistent with this prohibition, 

the COPS Office offers free informational resources and technical assistance to any state or

local agency wishing to establish or modify its Blue Alert plans. 

E. Engagement with Stakeholders. As previously reported, the COPS Office reached out to 

several key stakeholders to assist in developing and implementing a national Blue Alert Act 

strategy. 

The COPS Office continues to work with the Executive Director of the Blue Alert 

Foundation, Inc. to promote the creation and establishment of Blue Alert systems throughout 

the United States. The foundation also provides support to families of fallen officers and 

facilitates the acquisition of critical safety equipment for law enforcement agencies needing 

assistance. The Executive Director currently serves on the Blue Alert Advisory Group. 
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The COPS Office continues to work with FirstNet, an independent authority within the 

Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration. 

FirstNet’s mission is to build, operate, and maintain the first high-speed nationwide wireless 

broadband network for interoperable public safety communications.

The Attorney General is statutorily designated as a member of the FirstNet Board. In 

2013, then Attorney General Eric H. Holder, consistent with FirstNet bylaws, delegated his 

responsibilities to the COPS Office Director during the inaugural years of the Board. Currently, 

the Executive Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Science and 

Technology Branch serves as the Attorney General’s designee on the Board. 

In light of the similar equities between FirstNet and the Blue Alert Act, the COPS Office 

consulted with the President of FirstNet, whose expertise has been valuable in the 

development of the COPS Office’s national Blue Alert Act strategy. The FirstNet President 

currently serves on the Blue Alert Act Advisory Group. The COPS Office anticipates that 

FirstNet, once fully operational, will be able to streamline communications interoperability for 

states, thus facilitating nationwide Blue Alert coordination.

The COPS Office will continue to work with stakeholders individually and collectively to

develop and enhance our national strategy for the Blue Alert Act. We will also identify 

additional stakeholders as needed. 

F. Cooperation with Other Federal Agencies. The Act requires the Coordinator to 

cooperate with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and other DOJ offices as appropriate

(42 U.S.C. § 14165b(d)). As previously reported, the COPS Office established a point of contact 

with each of the identified federal agencies and the FBI. We have since forged strong working 

relationships with several key federal partners.

The FCC oversees the national Emergency Alert System (EAS) used to deliver important 

emergency information, such as AMBER alerts and weather information targeted to specific 

areas. The FCC plays a key role in alerting as it establishes the technical standards, activation 

procedures, and testing protocols. The FCC has sole authority to create fixed three-letter EAS

event codes used to define alerts and the corresponding actions by broadcasters, cable system 

operators, wireless carriers, and other parties responsible for alerting the public.

The absence of a dedicated event code for Blue Alerts requires states and local law 

enforcement agencies to utilize an existing generic Law Enforcement Warning (LEW) event code 

in an ad hoc manner. Despite its serious sounding name, the LEW event code is most often

used for routine informational purposes such as hazardous road conditions and road closures. 

Consequently, there is often a lack of urgency associated with the LEW event code and FCC 
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regulations do not suggest immediate action on the part of broadcasters when they receive 

LEW alerts. A dedicated Blue Alert EAS event code would convey the appropriate level of 

urgency and galvanize the public awareness necessary to protect law enforcement officers and 

the public from extremely dangerous suspects. 

In October 2016, the COPS Office commenced outreach efforts with the FCC to pursue a

dedicated Blue Alert EAS event code. In making our request, we asked that the FCC consider 

expedited rulemaking to the extent feasible. The COPS Office will continue its ongoing 

coordination efforts with the FCC to facilitate the creation of a Blue Alert EAS event code as 

quickly as possible. 

In tandem with the FCC’s role in alerting, FEMA is responsible for maintaining and 

operating the national Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). In order to ensure 

that alerting capabilities keep up with current and emerging technologies, FEMA partners with 

various stakeholders from the public and private sectors representing broadcasting, mobile 

device manufacturers, and other interested industries.

States and many jurisdictions rely on IPAWS to utilize EAS and Wireless Emergency 

Alerts (WEA) to alert the public. IPAWS allows alerting authorities to write their own 

emergency alerts using commercially available software applications approved by FEMA and 

compliant with common alerting protocols. Alerts are authenticated and delivered 

simultaneously through multiple communication pathways to quickly reach the public. 

In February 2017, the COPS Office had several meetings with FEMA to identify all 56 

state and territorial designated alert authorizing officials and to discuss integration of Blue Alert

plans into IPAWS. In addition, the Deputy Coordinator and a COPS Office Blue Alert Team 

member visited the FEMA IPAWS training lab and received training on alerting equipment and 

software including conducting test Blue Alerts to observe how broadcasters and wireless 

carriers would receive the alerts. The COPS Office currently has a pending application for a 

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to acquire access to the IPAWS-OPEN system to receive a 

live feed of public alerts and warnings issued anywhere in the United States. 

The COPS Office will continue its ongoing coordination efforts with FEMA to advance the 

integration of Blue Alert Plans into IPAWS. The COPS Office will also continue to seek

consultation with, and ongoing advice from, our federal partners. We will also identify new 

federal partners as needed.

G. Promotion of the Blue Alert Act. Notably, the Blue Alert statute prohibits the 

Coordinator from conducting any official travel or hosting a conference for the sole purpose of 

implementing the Blue Alert Act (42 U.S.C. § 14165b(e)). These restrictions have not prevented 
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the COPS Office from promoting the Blue Alert Act, and we have undertaken a number of 

measures to raise awareness of the Blue Alert Act.

The COPS Office is planning to publicize a national rollout of the full complement of 

available Blue Alert resources and technical assistance to coincide with the commencement of 

National Police Week 2017 (May 15th -21st). 

As detailed in Section III.D of this report, the COPS Office launched a dedicated National 

Blue Alert Network webpage on our website at https://cops.usdoj.gov/bluealert that identifies

Blue Alert resources and points of contact for states, law enforcement, and the community. 

The COPS Office also launched a dedicated National Blue Alert Network SIG data repository 

through the FBI LEEP platform with access restricted to law enforcement and other qualified 

users as determined by the Coordinator. 

The Department promoted awareness of the Blue Alert Act at various national law 

enforcement conferences, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), 

Major Cities Chiefs Association, and the National Sheriffs’ Association. These conferences 

provide the potential outreach to promote the Blue Alert Act to tens of thousands of law 

enforcement officers and agencies. In addition to the conferences, the COPS Office conducted 

a Blue Alert briefing at the National Officer Safety and Wellness Group forum in October 2016.

Our IPAWS liaison also spoke about Blue Alert and his collaboration with the COPS 

Office at an annual summit of the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations in 

February 2017. Members of the COPS Office Blue Alert team attended a rally at the Law 

Enforcement Officers Memorial in April 2017 to promote the National Blue Alert Network and 

as a sign of our unwavering commitment to officer safety and wellness.

The COPS Office will conduct targeted informational outreach to states and territories to 

raise awareness about the availability of free educational resources and technical assistance 

from the National Blue Alert Network. The COPS Office will also publish a dedicated article in 

its e-newsletter, Community Policing Dispatch, to describe Blue Alert development plans. This

newsletter reaches more than 7,000 law enforcement professionals and stakeholders. The 

COPS Office will further promote the Blue Alert Act with all of its active award recipients, which 

consists of approximately 1,000 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

IV. Effectiveness and Status of Blue Alert Plans

In addition to reporting on the activities of the Coordinator, the Blue Alert Act also 

requires the annual report to Congress to include the effectiveness and status of Blue Alert 

plans (42 U.S.C. § 14165b(f)). The effectiveness of existing Blue Alert plans is difficult to gauge at 

this time due in part to the disconnected nature of plans from state to state. There is no 
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evidence, as of yet, that any of the states with Blue Alert plans have conducted research around 

this question. The COPS Office will begin collecting data as it becomes available in order to 

evaluate the effectiveness of Blue Alert plans.

As previously reported, the COPS Office made direct outreach calls to each of the 56 

states and territories. This includes the 27 states that operate Blue Alert systems as well as 

those 29 states and territories that currently do not have Blue Alert systems. The COPS Office’s 

outreach enabled us to identify and establish Blue Alert points of contact across the country, 

which is a critical resource for law enforcement and the public as no such resource existed. The

lack of such a resource affected jurisdictions’ ability to communicate within states and across 

the country. Even in states with established Blue Alert plans, it was often difficult to identify 

important points of contact necessary for alert activation or interstate coordination.

Since implementation of the National Blue Alert Network, there have been numerous 

incidents where law enforcement officers were shot and killed, sparking a search for suspects. 

In response, the Deputy Coordinator contacted the affected state authorities to offer assistance 

and to ensure that neighboring states or jurisdictions were promptly notified and to facilitate 

interstate coordination. 

As previously reported, the COPS Office also verified which states have Blue Alert plans 

and the extent to which the plans comply with the voluntary guidelines. We secured copies of 

Blue Alert plans and related materials such as program overviews, activation plans, legislation, 

and brochures from states that currently have Blue Alert plans.

To further our analysis of existing Blue Alert plans, the COPS Office recently compiled a 

legislation compendium containing the specific public laws, statutes, or executive orders that 

authorized and created Blue Alert systems. The following are highlights of the threshold 

activation criteria from those states. These highlights illustrate clear and significant differences 

between states, which could limit or complicate coordination efforts when a suspect flees, or is 

thought to have fled, to another jurisdiction. 

• Only 50% (13 states) of plans contain provisions for officers missing in the line of 

duty. 

• Five states allow for activation in cases where an officer is threatened with a deadly 

weapon but not actually injured.

• 58% (15 states) require sufficient descriptive information about a suspect to enlist 

the public’s assistance. 

• 58% (15 states) require a suspect vehicle description or license tag for activation.

• Only one state has an explicit requirement that activation will not compromise the 

investigation of the incident involved.
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The following table is a quick reference of threshold activation criteria for the featured 

states as of January 2017.

2

 The wide range of Blue Alert activation criteria among states

highlights the need for uniform guidance and consistent protocols to enhance coordination and 

maximize interoperability from one state to another.

2 Utah has a Blue Alert plan but is not listed in the table due to insufficient activation criteria. AL AZCA COCTDEFL GAILINKSKY MD ME MI MNMS NC

NDOH

OK

SC

TN

TX

VA

WA

OFFICER STATUS

Killed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Attempted killing ●

Seriously bodily Injured ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Life threatening injury ●

Assaulted with deadly weapon ● ● ● ● ●

Injured ●

Missing ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Concerning circumstances ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Last location known ● ● ● ● ●

SUSPECT

Poses serious threat to public ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Imminent threat to public or LE ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Sufficient description to enlist public ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Vehicle description or tag ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

OTHER

Alert may help avert further harm ● ● ● ● ●

Alert may hasten apprehension ● ● ● ● ● ●

Will not compromise investigation ●

Criteria to ensure victim name ●

The COPS Office is currently compiling a Blue Alert policies resource to examine the 

differences and commonalities between existing Blue Alert processes. The policies 

compendium will include state Blue Alert policies, forms, brochures, and promotional material

from Blue Alert states that will be useful to states and law enforcement agencies in developing 

or improving their own Blue Alert systems. 

The COPS Office will continue to identify and address challenges in establishing and 

implementing Blue Alert plans and develop the necessary informational resources and technical 

 
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assistance to assist states, local governments, and other involved entities with initiating, 

enhancing, and promoting Blue Alert plans.

V. Fiscal Needs

There were no funds appropriated for implementation of the Blue Alert Act. The 

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated annual implementation costs to be $1M once fully 

operational (Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate, S. 665 Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu 

National Blue Alert Act of 2015 (April 6, 2015)). Preliminary assessments — informed by 

operational and technical assistance costs of the AMBER Alert system administered by the 

Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), its partner the National Center for Missing and 

Exploited Children, and its grantee Fox Valley Community College — generally support the CBO

estimate. However, OJP estimated that the initial two-year implementation costs for the Blue 

Alert Act would be $3M per year. 

Similar to the AMBER Alert system costs, the COPS Office anticipates funds needed for 

the Blue Alert Act will support development and assistance to the approximately 30 

jurisdictions that do not have Blue Alert plans, as well as training, technical assistance, and 

coordination to the states that do have Blue Alert plans. The COPS Office continues to work 

diligently to implement the Blue Alert Act and to minimize any costs by aligning with existing 

resources. 

VI. Summary of Activities and Projected Next Steps

The Department reported the following activities in its previous report to Congress: 

• Designated the National Blue Alert Coordinator and Deputy National Blue Alert

Coordinator

• Established the COPS Office Blue Alert Team

• Established the Blue Alert Advisory Group

• Conducted direct outreach to all 56 states and territories

• Identified state Blue Alert points of contact

• Collected state Blue Alert plans and related materials from the Blue Alert states

• Conducted a review of existing state Blue Alert plans to identify shared elements 

and opportunities for greater consistency and coordination

• Identified key stakeholders and conducted outreach

• Established points of contact with key federal partners

• Launched the National Blue Alert Network webpage on the COPS Office website at

http://cops.usdoj.gov/bluealert

The Department reports the following new activities in this current report to Congress:
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• Developed a wide variety of Blue Alert informational resources including:

o National Blue Alert Network factsheet and PowerPoint presentation

o Compendium of state Blue Alert legislation and policies

o Directory of state Blue Alert officials

o Guidance and recommendations on developing or enhancing Blue Alert plans

• Launched the National Blue Alert Network SIG on the FBI LEEP platform at 

https://leo.cjis.gov/leoContent/sigs/blue_alert/

• Conducted quarterly Advisory Group meetings

• Conducted bi-weekly COPS Blue Alert Team meetings

• Coordinated with FCC to initiate creation of dedicated Blue Alert EAS event code

• Identified all 56 state and territorial IPAWS authorizing officials

• Coordinated with FEMA to integrate Blue Alert plans into IPAWS

• Visited the FEMA IPAWS lab and trained on alerting equipment and software 

including conducting test Blue Alerts

• Submitted application to DHS for MOA to access IPAWS-OPEN system

• Trained selected COPS Office Blue Alert Team members to provide technical 

assistance to states and local agencies

• Performed immediate outreach to states after officers were killed to offer assistance 

and facilitate interstate coordination.

• Promoted awareness of the Blue Alert Act at various national law enforcement 

events including the annual IACP conference and the National Officer Safety and 

Wellness Group forum

The Department will undertake the following activities in the coming year: 

• Conduct targeted informational outreach to states and territories to raise awareness 

about the availability of free educational resources and technical assistance

• Work with FCC and FEMA to determine the most effective way to deliver LES alerts 

to targeted law enforcement personnel within the existing alerting infrastructure

• Continue to work with law enforcement stakeholders and Advisory Group members 

to increase the effectiveness of our guidance and recommendations

• Continue working with various Blue Alert stakeholders and federal partners

• Explore the needs and feasibility of incorporating interested tribes and Indian 

nations into the National Blue Network

• Continue to promote the Blue Alert Act to thousands of officers and agencies at 

upcoming law enforcement events

• Publish an article in the COPS Office e-newsletter about Blue Alert
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• Identify fiscal needs for further implementation of the Blue Alert Act and make 

appropriate funding requests

• Promote the Blue Alert Act with all active COPS Office award recipients

• Continue with bi-weekly COPS Office Blue Alert Team meetings

• Continue with quarterly Blue Alert Act Advisory Group meetings

Attachments:

• State Map of Blue Alert plans

• Blue Alert Factsheet

• Blue Alert web page screen image